Downton's New Footman
by Gwdihw
Summary: Set at the beginning of Season 3, a new footman arrives just in time for the wedding...


Joe realised within the first five seconds that he had started his first shift on a very inconvenient day indeed: every guest bedroom was occupied in anticipation for the wedding the following day, Carson's nerves were wound tighter than a mousetrap and would snap just as easily, and the army of kitchen staff were preparing a feast grander than Joe could imagine. As much as he tried to be useful, he was always underfoot.

'Boy! Move!' Mrs Patmore boomed and Joe scrambled maniacally sideways. He had already given up telling people what his name was and had accepted that for the foreseeable future, he would be 'boy'.

'You won't be known by your name until the next new person comes,' Lily told him, carrying a wicker basket full of laundry on her hip. 'Then they'll be boy and everyone will start calling you by your name.'

Joe wasn't about to complain about this. He was fifteen years old, too young to be a footman, really, but he was tall enough to pass as a grown man and the Crawleys were desperate. They couldn't very well host a wedding with one footman short, and so Carson had reluctantly offered Joe the job on the basis of his uncle's good reference. Joe had worked very hard at the farm, although he was still sad to leave. On the other hand, the thrill of being allowed to work in a house like Downton was beyond his wildest dreams. It was all he could do to stop himself for staring about in wonder at the library and the staircase and the garden and the chandeliers and…

'Watch it, boy!' Lord Grantham's valet sneered as Joe collided into him, distracted by a lavish painting.

'Sorry! I didn't mean to, Mr Barrow!' Joe stuttered, the colour rising in his face. His freckled complexion was prone to easy blushing, something which Joe would have to keep under control if he was going to work here. Being a footman was all about composure. Fortunately, the valet was instantly mollified by the respect that Joe showed him and allowed the boy to escape without any further scathing comments.

'Boy!' Carson said sharply. 'You are to help Mr and Mrs Stevenson to their bedroom. Their luggage is over here. Be careful with it!'

'Of course, Sir, yes, Sir, I will,' Joe said quickly, his words firing rapidly due to his nerves. He grabbed the first bag and could barely heave it off the ground: it weighed a ton.

'Right, if you would kindly follow me, Sir, I'll show you to your room,' Joe said, repeating the phrase that Mr Barrow had forced him to memorise after discovering that he'd greeted his first guest with: 'Come along, then!'

'You're doing well to carry that by yourself,' Mr Stevenson said conversationally as he strolled along in Joe's wake. 'It took two of my footmen to get it in the car, and they're both full-grown men.'

Joe reddened again, this time with the disappointment of not being thought of as a full-grown man. Mr Stevenson must surely be wondering why a boy was working as a footman.

'I was a farm hand, Sir, so I'm quite used to manual work,' Joe explained, and Mr Stevenson smiled indulgently. The man seemed nice, and even thanked Joe when they arrived at the room. For all his family's dire warnings about how rich folk treated the poor like mud, the ones he had encountered so far were polite and pleasant.

Joe was glad when it was finally time to go down for lunch. He had had breakfast at six o'clock and was worried that his stomach was about to start gurgling in a most undignified manner if it was left unfed much longer.

He gratefully took his place between Lily and a blonde housemaid at the table.

'How is your first day going?' Lily asked him immediately.

'It's alright. I mean, there's so much to remember, and I don't think the valet is overly keen on me, but everyone else is nice and the house is wonderful,' Joe said eagerly. He was so glad to be there and anxious that everyone should realise that.

'You've all met my brother, Joe?' Lily asked the rest of the table. 'He started this morning.'

'It's nice to meet you, Joe,' the blonde housemaid said warmly, shaking his hand. She had a brilliantly pretty smile. 'I'm Anna, head housemaid. And don't you worry a bit about Thomas, he's not keen on anyone. Although I suppose I'm meant to call him Mr Barrow now!' she sighed, her eyes rolling slightly. 'He was a footman just like you not too long ago, though, so don't let him intimidate you!'

'Thanks!' Joe said gratefully.

'This is Angela, she's new, too,' Lily told Joe, directing Joe's attention to the young girl on the other side of her. He shook her hand, then tried to keep up with the rest of Lily's introductions. There were so many people to remember! On the farm, there had only been the four of them working, but here, he was overwhelmed.

'Anna seems really nice!' Joe told his sister later, a little more wistfully than he had intended. His sister never missed a trick and her eyebrows shot up in amusement.

'Joe, she's twice your age and a married woman at that!'

Joe blushed, horrified. 'I- I didn't mean it like that. I only meant that she was friendly'

'If you say so,' Lily said, knowing her baby brother too well. 'But just in case you were interested, Angela's your age and she isn't walking out with anyone.'

'Lily, you're terrible,' Joe said under his breath.

'Oh, I'm only teasing you,' Lily said with a laugh. 'Now, leave me and get back to Carson before he has your guts for garters! The guests are having dinner soon!'

Joe could not have been more nervous at the prospect of serving a house chock full of guests. He was sweating profusely and neither one of his hands would stop shaking.

'Just follow my lead,' Mr Barrow said to Joe, even more sharply than usual. Due to the number of the guests, he would be acting as an extra footman, and Joe had to admit that he was an impressive figure dressed up in a footman's livery. His ivory skin and black hair matched perfectly with his clothes, giving him an almost vampiric air. The evil look he was giving Joe enhanced the impression further.

Joe believed that he had managed to hide his nerves reasonably well, until Mrs John said:

'Your new footman is shaking like a leaf, poor thing!' Joe was mortified and looked down at the floor. He was certain that this meant him losing his job. Surely, Carson wouldn't want a footman who couldn't be professional.

The rest of the dinner flowed without a hitch.

'I wasn't shaking that much, was I?' Joe asked Mr Barrow nervously as soon as they were released to go downstairs.

'You were worse than the blancmange they were eating,' Mr Barrow said drily. 'But it was only your first go,' he added with a shrug.

'The first time Tho- Mr Barrow served at a table, he dropped hot soup on a Tsar,' Anna said, going a little misty-eyed. 'Carson wouldn't look at him for a week.'

Joe laughed, feeling a little better. At least none of his guests were wearing their food.

_The atmosphere down here is wonderful_, Joe thought happily to himself. It was only his first day, and already he could see these people had become each other's family. Living in each other's pockets must do that to you. After eating, somebody started a jaunty tune on the piano and everybody started clapping as Mr Barrow twirled Daisy around the room.

'Are they sweethearts?' Joe asked Lily under his breath.

'She wishes!' Lily giggled back. 'No, they just have a bit of a dance now and again.'

They were only just starting to enjoy themselves when Mrs Hughes came in, clapping her hands sternly for their attention.

'Up to bed! Now! All of you! We have an extremely busy day ahead of us tomorrow and I want you well rested. Woe betide any of you if you oversleep,' she finished threateningly.

'I'll be careful not to get on the wrong side of her,' Joe muttered to Lily, getting to his feet.

'Oh, no, Mrs Hughes is a darling, normally. It's just that the stress of the wedding is making her nervous,' Lily assured Joe.

Joe headed upstairs to the room he now shared with the other footman, thoroughly exhausted. His small suitcase was still packed on the bed where he had left it at half past five in the morning. It seemed in another lifetime that he had put it there. Joe was overwhelmed by the urge to cry but screwed up his face to stop himself: Harry would be up before long and he didn't want to be thought a baby. Instead, he unpacked his few possessions and climbed into bed quickly. Eyes clenched tight, he could fool himself that he was back home.


End file.
